Daily Readings Dec 28 ’16

For Today:

I love you. I bless you. I release you to your own indwelling presence of God. Author Unknown

It is nothing less than a complete turn-about that this program brings into being. It gives me the amazing ability to release the people I love to detach myself from their pain and turmoil and suffering, and turn them over in love to that same Power within that is directing me

This act of release, performed daily in a moment of quiet prayer, exerts incredible influence on those I would help. I say and do only what is necessary to attend to my everyday responsibilities, showing the love I feel and radiating the calmness and peace that come from giving up control.

For today: I turn over responsibility for the lives of others to the same Higher Power within each of them that manages my own life.

*My take-away: Calmness.

Calmness

And I have no control over anyone else. And as that’s the way it is, that is good. Enlightenment, true to own self and being and what made to be…

And again, calmness.

Voices of Recovery:

“…I would if I could, my friend, but – as it is for me – the problem is within… I am completely honest in taking stock of myself so I can learn why I feel as I do about myself.” For Today p. 277

It seems that for most of my life I have been searching for the answer book. In school, there was always one definitive answer, and the teacher had all the answers. unfortunately, in life there is no one right or wrong way to do something. There are no answer books. Yet some experts believe that their book or product will solve whatever my current problem may be.

I finally realized that I have been searching in all the wrong places. No one has my answers; they don’t even know what the question is. I believe that all my answers are within me. The difficulty lies in looking within, something I’m incapable of doing alone. I need the love, help, and support from others. What I have been looking for is not the answer, but the question.

*My take-away: “…something I’m incapable of doing alone” – I am. I need my Higher Power. And I guess it IS true that my Higher Power is available to me not only alone but THROUGH others, through the program, my tools, prayer, meditation, meetings, people. And animals. Okay.

Daily Reflections:

In AA. we aim not only for sobriety – we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once rejected us. This is the ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first but not the final step. AS BILL SEES IT p. 21

The old line says, “Suit up and show up.” That action is so important that I like to think of it as my motto. I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not. Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part of that meeting, for then I can do what I say I’ll do at meetings. I can talk with newcomers, and I can share my experience; that’s what credibility, honesty, and courtesy really are. Suiting up and showing up are the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to normal living.

*My take-away: “…we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world taht once rejected us.” I get this image of the 1930’s era alcoholics, down and out, dishonest, maybe criminal, out of work, some homeless… and I am not in those positions. BUT – I did withdraw from the world which I thought/felt was rejecting me – and i therefore rejected it. Family, co-workers…. Instead of rejectoin I developed a strong judgmentalism thinking that was the answer? That unconsciously, like, if I were judging, that meant THEY were all flawed in ways such that I didn’t want/need them or to be near them. Then the rejection wouldn’t hurt so bad? Wow. Well I have been changing… good.

As Bill Sees It p. 29

Gratitude Should Go Forward

“Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward

“In other words, if you carry the message to still others, you will be making the best possible repayment for the help given to you.”

No satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth Step job well done. To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, and above all to watch them awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives – these things are the substance of what we receive as we carry A.A.’s message.

My take-away – Well I am certaily grateful for the people who were there for mea s a newcomer!

How to Eat p. 39

TURNING OFF THE RADIO

In order to eat with joy, we have to turn off “Radio NST.” Non-Stop Thinking. Even if our bodies are sitting still while we eat, usually our minds are racing. In order to truly be present for our meal, we have to stop the constant internal dialogue. To eat without thinking is to eat in freedom. We are free because we’re not thinking about the past, the future, and our projects. We are free to be sitting, whether alone or with loved ones, and enjoying our meal.

How to Walk

INVEST YOUR WHOLE BODY

Invest one hundred percent of yourself into making a step. Touching the ground with your foot, you produce the miracle of being alive. You make yourself real and the Earth real with each step. The practice should be very strong and determined. You are protecting yourself from the habit energy that is always pushing you to run and to get lost in thinking. Bring all your attention down to the soles of your feet, and touch the Earth as though you are kissing the Earth with your feet. Each step is like the seal of an emperor on a decree. Walk as though you imprint your solidity, your freedom, and your peace on the Earth.

*My take-away: Oh, I love this SO MUCH! Grounded to Mother Earth, protected from the habit energy which wants to push one to run and to get lost in thinking. LOVE this. NEED this.

How to Relax

BREATHING ROOM

Do you have a space dedicated to relaxing in your home? This doesn’t have to be a big space. It could be a small corner (not your bed!) or anywhere in a room that is dedicated just to breathing and relaxing. This is not a space for eating or doing homework, or folding laundry or building anything.. This is as essential as a place to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom. We need a small space where we can take care of our nervous system and restore our tranquility and peace.

*My take-away: Right now this minute, making a little space! 🙂

Acceptance – Big Book p. 417

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation – some fact of my life – unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is spposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.